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MSM Team Founder, Midnight S≡R≡NITY rider

Love my November 2017 15’ MacBook Pro and find the touchbar quite handy. Like you, @SoFlaModel3 , I enjoy using the screen brightness maxed out but I almost always have the laptop on power & @ 100% though I know this is probably not a good plan. Otherwise with extended use during the day it requires daily charging almost like the iPhone. Such is life in 2018...

Well-Known Member

I'm interested in the OP's progress since the summer. Still with apple?

I had a bit of a falling out with them in my mind in 2016 and on a whim bought a Surface Pro 4. I loved the hardware and Windows 10 is pretty decent. The shine wore off after actually living with the device... many apps on Windows are appalling; reading apps, browsers on touch, editing PDF's, integrating photos into documents easily etc. I sold it after about 6 weeks and haven't complained about my Apple hardware (or software) since. My 2014 MBP is still going strong.

@Teslatunity

I'm interested in the OP's progress since the summer. Still with apple?

I had a bit of a falling out with them in my mind in 2016 and on a whim bought a Surface Pro 4. I loved the hardware and Windows 10 is pretty decent. The shine wore off after actually living with the device... many apps on Windows are appalling; reading apps, browsers on touch, editing PDF's, integrating photos into documents easily etc. I sold it after about 6 weeks and haven't complained about my Apple hardware (or software) since. My 2014 MBP is still going strong.

Active Member

I was so annoyed that the mac mini was not getting updated and that they doubled down on their efforts in make their products ever thinner which translates into smaller batteries.
But they redeemed themselves me now that the apple watch series 4 doesn't suck as badly as the series 2 did and the new Mac mini base is actually good and just what I needed.

Top-Contributor

I’ve had two MacBook pro’s. Current one is just before latest gen. I love USB-C. I plug one thing in (a dock) and I get everything.

I carry a tiny adapter for USB-A which I have always hated with a passion. Constantly try to plug computer cables in blind, like back of computer, bottom of displays, Model 3 cubby and always have them backwards.

Legendary Member

I'm interested in the OP's progress since the summer. Still with apple?

I had a bit of a falling out with them in my mind in 2016 and on a whim bought a Surface Pro 4. I loved the hardware and Windows 10 is pretty decent. The shine wore off after actually living with the device... many apps on Windows are appalling; reading apps, browsers on touch, editing PDF's, integrating photos into documents easily etc. I sold it after about 6 weeks and haven't complained about my Apple hardware (or software) since. My 2014 MBP is still going strong.

It's funny that it's Microsoft of all companies that seems to have really done it right with their Surface hardware. I heavily researched Windows laptops for work and they clearly stood out from the rest, the only one that could truly be a lightweight tablet then be plugged into the base and get a full powered computer. Build quality, looks, good trackpad..things other PC makers struggle with. But...Windows will eventually crawl under your skin. If only they could run Mac OS. If only Apple would make a similar laptop.

And I say the same about the iPad Pro. Love the new design, finally has USB-C. But if only it ran Mac OS.

Top-Contributor

Time for a proper thread BUMP!
Also file this one to PSA (and first world problems).

So I picked up the new iPad Pro in the 12.9" size. It's crazy big, like holding a damn TV in my lap. I'm liking it so far, however as this thread is titled how it is...now is time for the "BUTs"

- A few months ago I bought the Apple Pencil for my (now previous) iPad. It worked great! Thanks to Apple introducing a new pencil at the same time as the new iPad that have no backwards compatibility, the one I just bought is now 100% obsolete... THANKS APPLE.

- The day before I got my new iPad, I connected my old iPad to my PC and backed it up. So when I opened the packaging, pulled out the new iPad and went to restore from backup... um... so yeah, the new one comes with a USB-C to USB-C cable. Just an FYI for anyone out there not in the cloud like me and in need of an old school iTunes backup/restore. It was late at night so I went to bed, stopped on my way home from work the next day and spent $20 for a USB-C to USB-A cable. THANKS APPLE.

- I started planning for a trip and thought a movie on my iPad and my noise cancelling headphones during flight sounds good. Welp, see above about USB-C. I'll be stopping sometime at a store to get a stinking DONGLE... my favorite thing to additionaly carry and try not to lose ... which will be USB-C to 3.5mm headphone and looks like it costs $9 and has crappy reviews online (including WiFi cutting out!). Ridiculous. THAAAAANKS APPLE!!!!!!!

Active Member

Love my Mac but it far from perfect.
I have to run a laptop cooler under it at the office to keep it from over heating.
LG 5K monitors are nice but crazy expensive. No other way to really use the USB-C ports. Both can't be plugged into the same side.
Keyboard sucks
I like the Touch Pad but they need an external keyboard with the touch pad that I rarely use just the laptop.
I bought the Black Magic eGPU but it only supports one monitor, which makes it pretty useless.

I switch from dell for hardware reliability and more innovative hardware designs. Dell was still pushing that eraser mouse until recently (did anyone like it?)

I think the support has been great, but we have always received good support from dell and hp.

It also has the benefit of annoying the hell out of my IT guys.

The cloud is also frustrating. The iphone and Ipads have so much memory it is hard to back them up to a computer, especially if you want to keep multiple backups. The cloud backup does not store my mp3s on my phone which is a pain to move them each time I upgrade a phone. With that said the Time Machine has saved my ass on many occasions.

Moderator

Time for a proper thread BUMP!
Also file this one to PSA (and first world problems).

So I picked up the new iPad Pro in the 12.9" size. It's crazy big, like holding a damn TV in my lap. I'm liking it so far, however as this thread is titled how it is...now is time for the "BUTs"

- A few months ago I bought the Apple Pencil for my (now previous) iPad. It worked great! Thanks to Apple introducing a new pencil at the same time as the new iPad that have no backwards compatibility, the one I just bought is now 100% obsolete... THANKS APPLE.

- The day before I got my new iPad, I connected my old iPad to my PC and backed it up. So when I opened the packaging, pulled out the new iPad and went to restore from backup... um... so yeah, the new one comes with a USB-C to USB-C cable. Just an FYI for anyone out there not in the cloud like me and in need of an old school iTunes backup/restore. It was late at night so I went to bed, stopped on my way home from work the next day and spent $20 for a USB-C to USB-A cable. THANKS APPLE.

- I started planning for a trip and thought a movie on my iPad and my noise cancelling headphones during flight sounds good. Welp, see above about USB-C. I'll be stopping sometime at a store to get a stinking DONGLE... my favorite thing to additionaly carry and try not to lose ... which will be USB-C to 3.5mm headphone and looks like it costs $9 and has crappy reviews online (including WiFi cutting out!). Ridiculous. THAAAAANKS APPLE!!!!!!!

Could have, true. Didn't though... my own fault for not researching it and expecting it to ship with a USB-C to USB-A cable. Still though, even if I knew these things before hand, I'd be in the same boat and would have had to buy what I bought. So that to me makes Apple worthy of my side eye and a snarky THANKS APPLE!

Tech Founder

1. Talk about iPads; we have two iPads, but no one in the family uses or plans to use them any more. Interesting. I suppose phones and laptops cover it for us.

2. "All Apple" families. We used to be all-Apple, with each kid given a MacBook Pro and an iPhone when there were old enough. But interestingly, to a kid they all now use Windows machines (everyone free to choose every couple of years). It surprised me. "Do you want your next laptop to be another Mac, or a Windows machine?" And all three eventually said, "Windows!" Despite growing up with a Mac and mostly using Macs at school.

I have both types of laptops, but I really don't enjoy using my MacBook nearly as much. And this from someone who was an early fan of Apple, and quickly gobbled up each new Mac release. There are too many technical apps I use for which there aren't Mac versions. And I'm now addicted to Track Point, the pointer you can use without moving your hands from the keyboard. Love that.

We do all use Apple iPhones. Which I prefer, even though I also use Android phones and tablets for software testing. Kinda of similar to Windows, where for instance you've got hardware makers like Tesla focusing first on the iPhone.

Dis Member

We used to be all-Apple, with each kid given a MacBook Pro and an iPhone when there were old enough. But interestingly, to a kid they all now use Windows machines (everyone free to choose every couple of years). It surprised me. "Do you want your next laptop to be another Mac, or a Windows machine?" And all three eventually said, "Windows!" Despite growing up with a Mac and mostly using Macs at school.

My youngest has stopped using the Windows machine I got for him and prefers a Chromebook now. He no longer plays games (which Chromebooks basically can't do), and he prefers the "instant on" capabilities of the Chromebook. They're small, light, cheap, and they seem so quick compared to a windows machine with various OEM bloatware installed. So now we have a $500 Windows laptop sitting unused in favor of a $150 Chromebook.

☰ > 3

Time for a proper thread BUMP!
Also file this one to PSA (and first world problems).

So I picked up the new iPad Pro in the 12.9" size. It's crazy big, like holding a damn TV in my lap. I'm liking it so far, however as this thread is titled how it is...now is time for the "BUTs"

- A few months ago I bought the Apple Pencil for my (now previous) iPad. It worked great! Thanks to Apple introducing a new pencil at the same time as the new iPad that have no backwards compatibility, the one I just bought is now 100% obsolete... THANKS APPLE.

- The day before I got my new iPad, I connected my old iPad to my PC and backed it up. So when I opened the packaging, pulled out the new iPad and went to restore from backup... um... so yeah, the new one comes with a USB-C to USB-C cable. Just an FYI for anyone out there not in the cloud like me and in need of an old school iTunes backup/restore. It was late at night so I went to bed, stopped on my way home from work the next day and spent $20 for a USB-C to USB-A cable. THANKS APPLE.

- I started planning for a trip and thought a movie on my iPad and my noise cancelling headphones during flight sounds good. Welp, see above about USB-C. I'll be stopping sometime at a store to get a stinking DONGLE... my favorite thing to additionaly carry and try not to lose ... which will be USB-C to 3.5mm headphone and looks like it costs $9 and has crappy reviews online (including WiFi cutting out!). Ridiculous. THAAAAANKS APPLE!!!!!!!

See, if you upgraded the computer at the same time, you would have been covered
I have a 2011 MBA that is perfect, except for now old enough it can’t get the newest OSX updates. And an iPad Air 2 that has started to have battery issues and I’ve been considering changing over to the new smaller sized iPad Pro. To get around the USB C adaptor issue, I’ve considered changing out both of them (because the adaptor is $20 and who wants an adaptor there all the time, and may as well get the $1500 adaptor right?!)

I used to really like the stick. I got used to it on the original IBM ThinkPad. The one with the red screen. When I finally got to use an Apple trackpad I was immediately converted. It was the first trackpad that worked well for me.Even today, the trackpad on my Dell (work machine) doesn't come close to the one on my Mac.

Member

I was just discussing my 2013 Macbook Air the other day. Except for some loss of battery capacity, it works just as good as the day I bought it. I've also gone fully Apple (computer, iPad, iPhones, Apple Watch) and with no regrets. It is a little alarming though when I get a text message - I get alerts from every direction all at once!